Read this week's issue online exactly as it appears in print.

Twitter

Road deaths climb once more

The number of people who lost their lives on Portuguese roads has risen once again. This follows more than a decade of successive reductions in fatalities, with road deaths having dropped to a quarter of 1996 figures.

More than five hundred people died on the nation’s roads in 2017, while there was also a steady increase in accidents and serious injuries when compared with the previous year.According to National Road Safety Authority (ANSR), a total of 509 fatalities were reported last year, up by 64 or 12.5 percent on 2016.Overall, more than 130,000 accidents were registered in 2017, while there were just under 2,200 serious injuries. A further 41,591 slight injuries were also recorded last year.The regions with the highest number of accidents were Lisbon (26,698), Porto (23,606), Braga (10,980) and Faro, with 10,752 accidents.Porto led the fatalities, with 68, followed by Setúbal (56), and Lisbon (51).Lisbon recorded the most serious injuries (311) followed by the Algarve, with 192.These figures follow after the government had said last month it would reflect on what action is necessary with regard to the three main issues, namely people being run over, drink-driving, and accidents involving motorbikes.“In 2016 we had a quarter of the fatalities we had 20 years ago, but we cannot rest on our laurels. We want this positive evolution to consolidate and, in 2018, with public institutions, local authorities, security forces and services, and agents within the sector, we will take stock of how to improve the points of risk already identified: road accidents on urban roads, two-wheeled vehicles and alcohol consumption”, explained International Affairs Minister, Eduardo Cabrita.According to the minister, Portugal has “absolutely unacceptable numbers regarding people being knocked down in urban areas”, and it is necessary to “identify the causes and circumstances and act upon them”.“Portugal is one of the safest countries in the world. We want it to be the case with road safety too”, he said.According to Mr. Cabrita, the Government wants to “launch a new and more ambitious way of implementing the national road safety plan”.ANSR president, Jorge Jacob, meanwhile highlighted the increase in motorcycle accidents and the number of deaths in-situ.“We know that motorcycle crashes and the resulting casualties have increased a lot, more than doubled, but we have to have more elements to refine that analysis”, Jacob reflected, adding that motorcycle sales have increased, the number of motorbikes circulating on roads too, and that this may be one of the possible justifications.Portugal’s most prominent national car association, the Automóvel Clube de Portugal (Automobile Club of Portugal - ACP), had already warned of deteriorating figures last summer, and slammed the Portuguese government’s approach to road safety, accusing it of not being a priority.The ACP said at the time that national awareness-raising campaigns about road safety were urgently needed, as is an “effective inspection” of driving education.“Road accidents increased at a worrying rate in 2017, without the Government having realised it and without taking structural measures to combat this problem”, the ACP said.This comes after another set of figures showed that around 5,500 people died in traffic accidents on the country’s roads between 2010 and November 2017.The monetary cost of these accidents has also come at a price, with an estimated impact of 15 billion euros on the Portuguese economy.Over this period, there were also 16,000 serious injuries and a further 300,000 slight injuries. Despite these numbers, Portugal has seen a reduction of almost 40 percent in road deaths since 2010, excluding the negative performance recorded in 2017.

Comments

Seeing the state of Portuguese roads , and the opposite laws to the rest of Europe on the use of roundabouts etc etc , this is not surprising .
Also the lack of transport infrastructure outside cities is one of the reasons there are so many vehicles on narrow and badly maintained roads . Even the motorways in Portugal are not up to European standards , and are very expensive , thus people use other roads .

by PG from Lisbon on 13-01-2018 11:08:00

Driving close to the car in front and outrageous overtaking, on bends, up hill on blind parts of the road, into oncoming traffic is common round here. It leaves me horrified on a daily basis.

by Caro from Alentejo on 12-01-2018 07:13:00

Driving close to the car in front and outrageous overtaking, on bends, up hill on blind parts of the road, into oncoming traffic is common round here. It leaves me horrified on a daily basis.